Rivka
Feminine · Hebrew roots
Rivka is the Hebrew name that the rest of the world knows as Rebecca — the wife of Isaac in Genesis, kept here in its original letters rather than its Greek and Latin traveling clothes. Two syllables, a hard consonant cluster in the middle, and it is done. It has been spoken continuously for roughly three thousand years, and it is being given to babies in American Jewish communities right now.
How old is the name Rivka?
Rivka first appears in US birth records in 1949 — 76 years ago. The typical Rivka alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 9,900 people named Rivka are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rivka most popular?
Rivka peaked in 2025, reaching #628 nationally. Today it ranks #628, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Rivka appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Rivka (Hebrew) to Rivka
The story of Rivka
Rivka (רִבְקָה) appears in the book of Genesis as the woman met at the well, who becomes Isaac's wife and the mother of Jacob and Esau. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek, they wrote her name Rhebekka, since Greek had no easy match for the Hebrew letters; Latin took that as Rebecca, and English inherited it from there. So Rebecca and Rivka are one name that split at a translator's desk and traveled two roads for two thousand years. The Hebrew form stayed alive the whole time in Jewish communities — Rivke in Yiddish-speaking Eastern Europe, Rivka in modern Israel — and came to the United States with them.
Meaningscholars disagree
traditionally linked to a root meaning "to tie" or "bind"
The oldest and most repeated reading connects Rivka to a Semitic root r-b-q, used of tethering or tying up animals — hence glosses like "a tie", "snare", or "tethering rope". Many Hebrew scholars regard that as a folk etymology and treat the meaning as unresolved; some propose a link to a word for a well-fed calf. Both readings are old, and neither has won.
How the name formed
- RivkaHebrew
- RhebekkaGreek Septuagint
- RebeccaLatin
- Rebecca / RebekahEnglish
- RivkeYiddish
Related forms: Rebecca · רִבְקָה · Rivke · Rifqa · Revekka · Rebeca
Pronouncing Rivka
RIV-kah
American English usually stresses the first syllable, RIV-kah. Modern Hebrew puts the stress at the end, riv-KAH; Yiddish speakers say RIV-keh. All three are correct in their own settings.
Nicknames for Rivka
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1949
- Most girls named
- 2025464 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #628reached in 2025
- Change vs 2023
- +20.8%464 in 2025, from 384
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Rivka in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rebecca in English — same name
- רִבְקָה in Hebrew — transliteration
- Rivke in Yiddish — related form
- Rifqa in Arabic — related form
- Revekka in Russian — transliteration
- Rebeca in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, New Jersey, California.
Rivkas among us
people named Rivka are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 3,464 born in 2025 was named Rivka
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Kalyn test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rivka's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kalyn climbed just as high around 1994, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kalyn's path sketches the road Rivka is walking now.
Rivka is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Rivka is headed
Rivka should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Rivka beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rivka in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way the Hebrew is spelled — no anglicized layer between the child and the original form of the name.
- Instantly decodable to most people through Rebecca, so the meaning and the biblical connection rarely need explaining.
- A ready-made everyday short form, Rivky, already in wide use rather than invented on the spot.
- Continuous documented use since antiquity, in Hebrew, Yiddish and modern Israeli naming alike.
- Two syllables, easy to say and to write early in life.
- Rivka reads clearly as a Jewish name, which is precisely the point for many families choosing it — but it is worth knowing that it announces heritage in every classroom and on every job application, in a way Rebecca does not.
- The stress is genuinely unsettled between American, Israeli and Yiddish usage, so a Rivka will hear her name said more than one way and will have to decide which she answers to.
- Expect the spelling to be queried: Rivkah, Rifka and Rivke all exist, and people who know the name may still reach for the wrong one.
- Outside the communities where it clusters, she is unlikely to meet another — a pleasure to some children, a small burden of introduction to others.
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What they receive
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Rivka
Feminine · Hebrew roots · #628 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rivkas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 9,900 people named Rivka are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rivka in 2025?
- Rivka ranks #628 among US girl names in 2025, with 464 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rivka?
- About 1 in every 3,464 US girls born in 2025 was named Rivka — 464 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rivka with classmates?
- Rivka will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rivka
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lexi#628 · Winona#627 · Cassandra#630 · Maliyah#626 · Azariah#630 · Andi#632 · Noah#624 · Indie#632
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rivka? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rivka and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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